Green Trail: Complete Edition
by PrincessPeace15
Summary: THIS IS A REWRITE OF THE FIRST "GREEN TRAIL" DUE TO THE MANY UPDATES ORGAN TRAIL GOT SINCE IT WAS FINISHED. It's pretty simple once you grasp it: One day, Sonic, Shadow, Amy, Knuckles, and Rachel (OC) find that the world they once knew has been overrun by zombies. Everyone else has already left for this mysterious location called "Safe Haven." How will our heroes do it?
1. Washington DC (Prologue)

**Some things to state before I begin: This is a rewrite. This version is in no way related to the first. In fact, just disregard the first one if it behooves you. There are parts of it I'm not proud of.**

 **And consider this a sort of AU thing if that helps, too, for it involves my OC having been a part of some of the characters' childhoods.**

 **And also, I'll be doing my best to adhere to the following pairings: Espio X OC, Sonamy, and Shadria.**

 **Alright… This is a big project… Let's begin!**

* * *

*Sonic's POV*

Look at this. Just look at it.

Sonic the Hedgehog remembered this very intersection. Before it was all up in flames. This intersection held the park where most of his best childhood memories had taken place.

The barrier that surrounded the playground was now melting and becoming one with the wood chips. And gone were the footprints that Rachel the Fox left when she walked atop it. When it was like an entrancing dance to him. And now, those green, rotting excuses for lifeforms were stumbling over what was left of it.

The woodchips themselves were practically nonexistent at this point. Lost to the flame. And gone were the marks he always used to make whenever he curled up into a ball and dashed in place to make the chips fly in the faces of his friends as a mean little joke. Well… At least the zed-heads were walking into the fire.

The bench was painted with red and pink. A fresh victim's flesh-print. And gone was the rut that Sonic always thought Shadow the Hedgehog would make by sitting there so much, with his eyes closed and his tolerance for the setting dropping like a rock. Now, the infected were lapping up whatever was left of whoever was the last to sit there. If it was even sitting.

The monkey bars were on the ground and close to being caught in the flame. And gone were the sweat and tears that Amy Rose had left the first time she ever tried them out. It always made Sonic nearly laugh his shoes off every time. She was so determined to make it across that for those few days, she was the last to leave the park. Everyone had been there when she finally made it. He remembered it so well: He, Rachel, and Knuckles had nearly cheered their lungs out. Hell, Shadow had even opened his eyes, if Sonic could remember correctly. And now, the last Sonic ever saw of those monkey bars was a green thing straddling them before the flames ate the entire scene up.

The basketball hoops themselves were still standing strong, but the nets on them were starting to sprout little flames due to the heat. And gone was the occasional swish before the subsequent bounces on the gravel that could only make Sonic ever think of Knuckles the Echidna. Basketball was almost like a drug to that echidna. Sonic even remembered the time that he, Rachel, and Amy had joined in on the dose. It was a pickup game that the girls had lost terribly. Still, though, the only thing left to connect to that was the limb that hung from one of the… Wait, how did that even get up there?!

"'Ey, Sonic!" a voice snapped from a certain distance behind him. "You coming with us or what?"

He looked around to see that the voice belonged to Knuckles. He was standing in the middle of the intersection, in front of an SUV that a certain Rachel, a certain Shadow, and a certain Amy were climbing into.

Always the dream team. As time went on, they became the big kids. Alongside Rachel the Genius, Shadow the Grown-Up, Amy the Future-Seer, and Knuckles the Powerhouse, Sonic the Speedster always thought he was a part of the up-and-coming local league of superheroes.

"Yeah," Sonic sighed, looking back toward the park.

Their base was up in flames.

He walked toward the SUV and climbed into the front seat, confused as to why nobody had called shotgun.

The rest of them, even Shadow, had faces stained with tears of pain and agony… but at least Sonic still had them.

"Our final destination is a mysterious location in Oregon known as Safe Haven," Shadow explained. "We'll be making numerous stops along the way for supplies and to rest."

"This place will be lost in a matter of hours," Knuckles added. "They're setting off a nuke."

On foot, Sonic knew he could be there in mere hours, if not mere minutes.

But if he did that, he'd not only miss the opportunity for supplies that could very well be needed, or end up passing any other friends by who are in distress. He'd be leaving the group of his best friends behind, and living with himself would become impossible if even one of them was lost as a result.

Welp… We're off.


	2. Washington DC to Pittsburgh

*Rachel's POV*

Without even taking a single bullet or a single punch, or even losing a single friend's life, Rachel the Fox believed that she had singlehandedly been through more fresh hell than anyone else in this vehicle. It was such a comic hero statement, and she never thought she'd realize it, but… she had been through some serious scrapes.

And her assailants actually had intentions of the completely opposite nature in mind.

But she could finally keep her eyes on the road. It was only recently that she could keep a steady foot on her gas pedal again, doing much better at being in the exact center of the lines in the road.

And it bettered her driving skills, too.

She wasn't exactly sure what she expected from the first stretch of this trip. Thinking they'd all be shouting cowboy slang and launching bullets into the air both terrified her and made her chuckle a little bit.

But that didn't happen. Not then.

Nothing significant happened by the time they made their first stop.

They did drive past a wedding, though.

They were stopped at a streetlight when she looked past Sonic's head to see it. The church was just over the line of "falling apart." It was a pearl white. It was just a quaint little building with some colored windows, and an unpainted cross on the roof. But boy, did it have an honor. On its doorstep awaited two people: an older gentleman in a black tuxedo, wrapping an arm around the arm of a young man dressed in gray.

Before Rachel could blink, they entered. Who, do you think, was the beaming young gentleman or gentlewoman waiting at the other end? How strongly did they actually love each other? How many hurdles did they have to jump?

Would it be perfect love forever?

At that, Rachel glanced back at the light to find that it was now a dim shade of emerald green.

The outside of the church was barren. It was time to move on.

All options were lost. Green means go. Just as she'd figured it out for herself.

At least that man was about to fall into the embrace of the one he loved.

Rachel shivered when she remembered the age-old question: Was… _he_ okay?


	3. Pittsburgh

**Reason for week hiatus: I had to rework the outline for reasons. Might even rework it one MORE time. The exact same thing happened with the first version as well, several times.**

* * *

*Knuckles's POV*

If any given survivor were to look at the red echidna right now, they'd come to the conclusion that all he was wondering was just whatever the hell he was doing out here.

And they'd be half right. Because Knuckles was wondering that with half of his mind.

He should've been fisting these green bastards in the mouth for the sake of his precious Emerald, and not some group of guys and girls that he just so happened to grow up with! J-Just imagine what the island had to look like! It could've been so populated that one step would warrant immediate death! They… They could've EATEN the Emerald! And then, not only would they be immortal, but…

But even worse… That flying creature...

But no. He was walking up to a wooden booth of some sort, watching flames engulf an entire once-thriving city. And with a narcissistic-ass blue hedgehog, a broody-ass black hedgehog, a bubbly-ass pink hedgehog, and a smart-ass fox.

Said booth held a single eager trader, looking up at Knuckles with a toothy smile hiding almost completely behind a silver beard… if toothy meant "with whatever was left." It almost made Knuckles sick to his stomach.

"Hey," the trader incoherently mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah," Knuckles groaned. "Look, do you have some fuel to spare in exchange for about $20?"

"I can give you 5!" the trader beamed, picking up a bright red gas can and holding it out to Knuckles. "4 more where that came from, all for the easy price of 20 bucks!"

Well… that was nice. Knuckles found his eyes widening.

"You got a-" he began to respond.

But he was cut off by a CASCADE of distant gunfire. The sonic booms it seemed to make, exactly.

"…Deal," Knuckles finished, placing the $20 on the trader's booth and taking the first gas can.

As soon as he could get the cap off to check its validity, the gunfire exploded into action again… this time seeming to grow quickly in frequency.

Maybe… there was an incoming horde? He looked up, noticing that all of the people currently staying in this area were all looking in one direction.

For a few moments, it was completely silent.

"What the hell IS THAT?!" a voice shook from somewhere in front of the crowd.

"Deer, it seems," another voice yelled back. "But… ZOMBIE deer."

At this point, those of the crowd that seemed to have children with them, especially, walked off with a quick pace.

Then, another shot rang through the air.

"That did nothing!" one of the voices shouted. "It just… BOUNCED right off of him!"

"RUN!" the other recognizable voice shrieked. "Everyone, get out of here!"

And then and there, nobody was up for objection. Suddenly, Knuckles successfully braced himself for the impact of a Mobian wave. Through the chaos, though, he managed to hang on to the one can of fuel he'd managed to acquire. As for the other four, either the trader or the others had scooped them all up on their ways out, within seconds.

He was able to dash back to their car, put the can of fuel in the trunk, and hop back into the car just as Rachel started it, put it into gear, and floored it. So if this was how this ENTIRE trip was gonna look…


	4. Pittsburgh to the mall

**Author's note: I'm… gonna have to stray away from the initial shipping plan. I don't think I'm ever going to make promises for pairings again, because one thing to make a story more interesting is to let it change with the tides. Don't try to adhere to anything too much. If you feel better having it go in a different way, let it take you.**

* * *

"Pull over," said Knuckles, just a few miles down the road.

At the request, Rachel's heart and stomach did a near-absolute double-take. Oh, God… Emetophobia and a sudden request for you to pull over were NEVER a great combination.

Trying to swallow back something of her own, she looked back at the echidna, as did everyone else.

As it would turn out, he wasn't sick. Just sick of this bullcrap. Sick of the awful decision he'd made. He had to cure Angel Island's fate, and that was not going to get done here.

"I'm leaving," he stated.

The entire car reacted in some way, shape, or form, Rachel with "Wait, what?!", Sonic with "Huh?!", Amy with "No!", and Shadow with a stare.

"Knuckles, you can't go out there!" Amy feared. "You'll be-"

"Eaten alive?" Knuckles replied, in a bit of a snarl. "Don't make me laugh. Even if I was, it'd be worth it."

"Geez, Knux," Sonic chuckled a bit.

"Don't call me that, bluey," Knuckles snapped. "…To be fair, it's not you all. I left Angel Island behind and need to return."

"But…" Amy tried to retaliate.

"Just THINK about what those things could be if they got ahold of the Master Emerald," Knuckles shook, a bit with rage, mostly with fear.

And for everyone, the reality finally set in.

"…I wish you all the best," Knuckles sighed. "Make it, okay?"

At that, Knuckles opened the door, closed it, and flew off somewhere. All in one fluid motion.

In one fell swoop, he was gone. For a split second, there was a gaping hole in everyone's hearts. Sure, Shadow and Amy had a bit more space now… but it was an empty fortune.

…What if this misguided snap decision was going to have him be torn to shreds and not be able to reverse it?

That's how it worked, Rachel supposed. Make a decision, face the consequences.

But these types of consequences? Did it really have to be _this_ way?

It was like a mind-control chip on Rachel's mind for a minute. She'd get the mind off it and start brooding over it all over again, in one fluid pattern. It bore into her, like a worm.

That is, until more thoughts of crap hitting the fan occupied her mind when Sonic went to fill the gas tank and realized that half a can had leaked into nowhere.

"What if the dick that gave them to us cheated us?" asked Shadow, simply closing his eyes and pushing on the bridge of his nose with two of his fingers.

"Nope, there's a hole here," said Sonic. "Either way… man…"

And a few miles after that, a MONSOON of ash suddenly covered the car. All there was to be seen was a dance of black particles that came from some disaster in God-knows-what direction.

As it hit, Rachel nearly panicked in a fashion that would have driven the car off the road, but she quickly caught herself, took a deep breath, and stopped the car on what she had to infer was the side of the road.

She went to grab the handle to her door to perhaps clear this ash off the windshield, but was quickly stopped by a sharp "Don't go out there!" from Shadow. At first, she was irritated and had the urge to go out anyway.

But zombies. Darkness, and zombies.

"That ash could kill us," Shadow huffed.

And death.

So they waited. Waited with only each other and the SUV existing in the world. After about 10 minutes or so, the ash finally came away from the windshield. The light of the outside world started by shining in little strips, which eventually became most of the windshield.

"Should I turn the wipers on now?" asked Rachel at this point.

"That is best," Shadow nodded.

"Alright!" Sonic cheered, hurting Shadow's ears a bit and putting a cringe upon his face.

"Let's be on our way!" Amy cheered.

And so they were. Covering the 4,000 or so miles to Safe Haven, they could continue doing.

…But as if visibility was something only rich people could buy, they soon found themselves driving into curtains of fog. This wasn't impossible territory, though (it certainly wasn't _black ash_ ), and as such, nobody really had any feedback to give. Shadow grumbled a bit to himself and kept one eye on Rachel's driving, but that was about it.

And wouldn't you know it… they made it through the fog and were approaching a _huge_ building. Amy was the first to recognize it at first sight; this was a mall.

As such, will there be more to buy and trade here, Rachel wondered?

Are any of the stores still open, Amy wondered?

What sort of mess could this lead to, both Sonic and Shadow wondered?


	5. The mall

They parked in front of the mall, between a couple of other cars, and got out.

"I say we all split up," Sonic proposed. "That way, we could get more supplies."

"Sonic," Shadow snapped in response. "There's not-"

But Sonic's friends were left in a whirlwind by his leaving the scene. It took a few seconds for the breeze to die down, but it would take a bit more than that for Sonic to get most of his friends' respect back.

Shadow, in general, seemed to want to keep Amy and Rachel close to him as they walked in. He came close to pulling them physically close to his body. It was a bit unsettling for Amy.

"Shadow, we'll be fine," she snapped. "There's not even that many people here."

"This world was never pure," Shadow said, in a bit of a growl. "With it ending, people have likely gotten grungier than ever before."

"Well, I'm certainly not having you follow me to the bathroom," Amy retaliated. " _I'll_ be back."

Amy then broke away from the trio and headed toward the hallway with a restroom sign hanging from the ceiling.

"Hey!" Shadow snapped, going after her. "It's dangerous all over here!"

This thus left Rachel alone. And it freaked her half out. There was nobody around her, but the argument between Shadow and Amy echoed throughout the building, so she had a handle on the facts that they were alive and here.

As for Sonic… had that fool spun himself right into his demise?!

No matter how much she felt for Amy's discomfort, she wanted Shadow's reassuring guardian stance back. She set off on a quick stride toward that same hallway.

Around the third step or so, the air crept with the faint sounds of what may have been the most disgusting thing Rachel had ever witnessed. She turned around, put a few pieces together, and immediately found the world she knew before breaking into pieces and cracking away to reveal this new world order of misery.

A zombie, stumbling in through the front door.

Out of a conflict between grief for the poor soul behind that lifeless skin and fear for her own life, Rachel let out a short, unrestrainable whimper before taking off on a mad dash down the same hallway.

The zombie wasn't all that fast in her speed, but Rachel still felt as if death was looming over her shoulders with every second.

…Ah! A miracle! Oh, Chaos, a miracle! A gun, waiting unattended against the wall! But… what if it was empty? That could be why someone left it there. But why would they do that when- NO TIME FOR USELESS QUESTIONS! IT'S A GUN! IT KILLS! IF YOU DON'T SEE IF IT KILLS, YOU'LL EFFING DIE!

As she put her hands on the gun, she heard Shadow's voice ask "Rachel?! What's wrong?!" in a way she'd never heard after a life of friendship.

All she could do was look up at him and blubber. At the first sight of his direct crimson stare, she just lost it. It was then she realized that there were tears dripping from her chin.

She could not say a word, for her throat had tightened so that her vocal cords would never see the light of day.

Not being able to put a response together, let alone voice it, she simply took the gun and walked back in the direction she'd come from.

"What's going on?!" Shadow asked, seeming a bit angry.

Rachel barely heard him over the rush of her own survival. She wanted to approach the entrance back to the main lobby as quickly as possible, as to get her- er, the zombie before she could get too close. Then again, too quick and reckless of an approach could have her running face-first into the zombie's unrelenting bite. So she settled for a stealthy set of steps, careful and long.

Fortunately, she approached the lobby again before the zombie had even reached the center of the lobby.

Rachel took those few times with the carnival game with the cork gun and used those memories to hoist and aim the gun.

…Was it just her, or was this zombie getting a bit faster?

She rearranged herself until she was sure the bullet would hit the zombie. Her finger was now on the trigger.

It was here that Shadow appeared by her side and felt his face go completely motionless, the world stop turning… and everything start going exactly as he thought it would.

…There'd be no worth in keeping her alive, right, Rachel wondered? But what if a cure was right around the corner? If that was the case, Rachel would be utterly destroying many lives, and-

"W-What are you doing?" asked Shadow. "SHOOT!"

That wasn't likely. Besides, she was too far gone.

Rachel realigned the gun. Her trigger finger was quaking like mad.

…Just do it on 3.

"1…" she muttered to herself. "2… 3!"

Her finger pressed on the trigger, but not quite enough to do anything. She paused for a moment before trying again, this time successfully firing a bullet.

The zombie immediately fell over backwards, letting out a distorted and unimaginable groan of agony before going limp… motionless… _dead_.

And Rachel, realizing this, lost all the strength in her limbs. She dropped the gun and dropped to her knees, losing all composure and flat-out bawling. Shadow, in response, knelt and rubbed her shoulder, but could not get his bewildered stare off the now-deceased zombie.

This zombie had fur which seemed to be pulled into three different individual ponytails, which were all pulled into one ponytail. Her purple dress was tearing severely on the bottom. Her heels were both broken, and in retrospect, Rachel may have owed her life to that.

That just wasn't _some zombie._

 _That was Blaze._


	6. The mall to Indianapolis

The entire drive to Indianapolis, at first, was a silent sickness. Rachel could barely even drive, and was half considering asking someone else to take the wheel. Her already-sick gut was screaming even louder, and for the first third or so, tears were still coming down her face. The road ahead was a blur.

To her… it was really all a blur. It was also a surprise she could stay on the road. The situation likely would have turned out differently had there really been anyone else on it.

What would Silver ever think of her? Would he understand that Blaze had become a damn zombie and had no hope left? Or would he curse the day Rachel was ever conceived for killing off his best friend? Was she _supposed_ to just leave her be so that she could be found? Oh, Chaos… She was, wasn't she?

Not that it mattered as much as it would have in the past. But it still mattered.

Sonic was completely lost on why everyone seemed to be so hit by something. Rachel had done it, Shadow had encouraged her to do it, and Amy stumbled upon it all when she returned from the bathroom. Sonic was waiting by the car with a few supplies as the three weary souls trudged to the car.

"How'd you guys do?" he'd asked.

He'd got no answer. His casual tone perhaps made everyone even more angry at the world.

He was clueless.

So he asked once more.

"Guys…" he huffed. "You all are so quiet. Something happened."

"…Yeah," Amy nodded, on the brink of tears. "Something happened."

"If you must know, you blue idiot," Shadow growled. "One of our friends had become a zombie, and we had to put her down."

"W-Which one?" asked Sonic, finally seeming to grasp reality.

"Blaze the Cat," Shadow sighed, quivering a bit.

And then, that was all four of them that remained silent through that portion of the ride.

A few minutes later, a broccoli cloud of smoke, ash, and fire rocked the world from just a mile or so off the road. Shadow and Rachel looked at it, but nobody really said anything.

The entire world was silent from then on until Sonic piped up "Hey, can we take a stretch break?"

Rachel obliged, pulling over and sighing in relief that she was no longer putting everyone's lives on the line with the car. For the moment.

They all got out, and for a second or so, they all coughed violently. Had the ash from that explosion gotten all the way over here?!

As soon as they recovered… two different things happened.

Amy spotted an old fox sitting in the distance. He was perched upon a rock, looking about the world and… smiling? He was also holding several bags of food from various restaurants, and the smells of those caught Sonic's attention.

He and Amy walked over to him, Amy for the soul food and Sonic for the actual food.

"Ah, young whippersnappers," the fox smiled. "It's great to see people getting by out here in these wastelands."

"We're trying our best," Sonic sighed, making Amy jump a bit. She hadn't known he had followed her.

"Are you all alone, sir?" asked Amy.

The fox got a solemn look on his face and shifted his gaze down to the ground.

"Most of my crew left me and my son behind, thinking I was one of the diseased," he sighed. "He's in the forest letting nature call. …I suppose I can't blame 'em. The disease turned my brother into one of those damned things. It's ruthless. You can't take any chances with it."

"Well… are you?" asked Sonic, earning an elbow to the stomach from Amy.

"No, I haven't been bitten," the fox answered. "You're alright to ask."

"How do you get by out here?" asked Amy. "With everyone dying, and all the hopelessness, and losing the ones you love?"

"…Have you young people ever read 'Candide?'" asked the fox.

"No, I have not," Amy replied.

Something within Sonic began to hurt. Oh, please, not one of these talks…

"It was written several hundred years before even I was born," said the fox. "One of Candide's friends, the philosopher Pangloss, says that it's the best of all possible worlds. Everything happens for a reason, kids. See, in the story…"

Meanwhile, Rachel had sought solace in something on the ground. It waited on the dirt like a fresh painting.

A fishing pole and a can of worms. Side by side, lifelong buddies. Their previous owner must've left in a hurry, seeing as the top to the can was ajar just enough for a worm to try to make its escape. Rachel quickly rushed over and closed the top, trapping the worm back inside. Perhaps he'd be the first victim.

She looked around. Surprisingly, none of the green things were to be found, no matter how hard she read between the trees in the distance. This was left near a river. Sonic and Amy were talking to some guy, and Shadow was God-knows-where.

She hadn't fished in years. This was going to be fun.

Fortunately, there still seemed to be half of a worm on the hook. Gratefully, Rachel checked her surroundings, sat down, and cast the line into the water. All that could be heard was the water's haste and the conversation between the old man and Sonamy over there. Perhaps she'd listen in on it.

So she did for about a minute or so. A story. What she picked up was something about a guy who got kicked out of a castle for romancing the baron's daughter.

Her furs rose in shock when she heard a second voice chime in "Clever idea. Where did you get this stuff?"

She looked up. Ah, it was Shadow. Wherever he'd come from.

"It was actually on the ground right here, believe it or not," Rachel laughed, looking back at the bobber in the river. "Where have you been?"

Shadow rose a brow and replied "You wanna know?"

"…Maybe not, I guess," Rachel laughed.

Shadow sat down beside her, watched the swaying bobber, and listened to the story the old man was telling in the distance. He'd now gotten to a part about this man named Candide being alerted that the love of his life had been killed.

With a slightly quivering voice, Shadow noted "It reminds me of the stories Gerald encouraged us to read."

Rachel looked at Shadow. Was he getting a bit misty-eyed there? She'd only be able to give him a one-armed hug, if it came to it. She could vaguely remember the once or twice it had before.

"He loved his library," Shadow went on, not looking away from the river. "He'd always talk about stories like Candide. There was another one called The Odyssey, about a man going off to sea and leaving his family behind, then venturing to go back. I always pictured Maria as Penelope for some reason. Then there was a play known as Waiting for Godot. Two guys were waiting for a mysterious figure known as Godot, who ultimately never shows up. Two acts, two days… Nothing happens, twice. I always pictured myself as Estragon and Maria as Vladimir. Picking me up, all happy, lulling me into a peaceful sleep…"

Rachel glanced into his eyes. They were halfway shut. Tears? Were those seriously there?

She'd read Candide as part of a school project. Penelope was Odysseus's wife.

"You've said so much about Maria in the time we've known each other," she commented. "It's almost how one love would talk about another."

Midway through the sentence, Shadow latched onto what she was saying and glared at her as if to protest. He had his mouth open… but nothing came out. What he was about to say… sort of fell short.

He barely noticed as the bobber in the river began to make some noise. Rachel was quick on the draw and reeled in an octopus.

"I don't remember this being a river creature…" he commented as he reached out to unhook it.

"Huh…" Rachel said. "…Anyway, it always seemed like you loved Maria."

"…That's not true," he stated, resting his arms on his knees and closing his eyes. "I just felt happy whenever I was with her. She could brighten my day even if I felt death, that's all. Nothing more than my taking amazement in everything she did."

Even Shadow was realizing what he was saying. He looked at Rachel, who was looking back at him and giving him this smile of victory.

"…Maybe I just don't understand you people," he said. "Your… 'feelings' and your 'love.' Flirting, and-"

"That's love, brother," said Rachel. "The happiness you feel with them overpowering any and all negativity in your life. Taking amazement in everything they do. They become your everything. Your dreams, your inspiration… your #1 reason to smile."

Damnit… she was right. He supposed he… _loved_ Maria… O-Or maybe…

"That can happen with sibling-like relationships too, can't it?" Shadow tried to argue. "And best friendships!"

Even Rachel could tell he was purposefully trying to find something.

"Sure," Rachel nodded. "But friendship and siblinghood have no capacity to make your heart feel like it's flying all the while. Only love can make you feel as if you're in the air, in beautiful clouds of joy. Only love can make you sigh. Only love clouds your mind."

…Damnit, she was absolutely right. And Rachel, while saying all that, had reeled in a bass.

In the distance, the tale the old man was telling was just starting to end. This Candide and his friends Pangloss, Cacambo, Cunegonde, and an old woman were living their lives and cultivating gardens as if nothing had happened.

"That's an amazing story," Amy marveled.

Sonic had a headache.

"I-If it would be no trouble…" said Amy. "W-We have four people in our crew. The others are named Shadow and Rachel. Shadow's sort of down on life. He's all serious. Rachel's the hopeless romantic who believes everything is always for the best."

"Yes, I'll offer you some food," said the old fox, taking two of the bags he was holding and handing them out to Amy. This woke Sonic right out of the doze he'd drifted off into.

"Thank you, sir!" Amy smiled.

The old man took Amy's right hand with both of his.

"Thank you for listening to an old hag like me," the old man shook. "I've wanted to tell my grandchildren that story for years. They're always on about dating and gossip."

"Oh, kids…" Amy said sheepishly. She had to admit, she was guilty of the exact same stuff.

Sonic, meanwhile, was confused about why this hand contact didn't feel so great. Why did he want to punch something?

Meanwhile, Shadow was holding two water creatures, and Rachel was hoisting the fishing pole over her shoulder and standing up.

Right on cue, they heard the now-familiar groans of a green thing. With fear, they looked over to see that it was more than just the one. There were approximately three small hordes of them heading their way. Eyes on the prizes, each and every one of them.

And nobody had their gun with them.

Rachel just opted to run toward the car and shout "What are we going to do?"

Shadow skated past her to the SUV. He opened the back door and grabbed his rifle.

"I'll take them down," he said. "You get Sonic and Amy in the car. There may be more where these came from."

"Fine," Rachel obliged. "But the MOMENT they become-"

"GO!" Shadow shouted.

"GUYS!" Rachel shouted, running toward Sonic, Amy, and the old man.

Noting the fear in her voice, they all looked at her. Gunshots, dozen by dozen, rang through the world as Shadow tried to combat the hordes.

"Zombies!" Rachel screamed. "Dozens! We! Leave! Now!"

Sonic didn't have to think twice before dashing back toward the front passenger door of the SUV. Amy, however, looked back at the old fox. At that very moment, a second series of gunshots started happening alongside Shadow's.

"That's gotta be my son," the man smiled. "He's hot on his feet. We'll be fine. See that house over there?"

He motioned toward a white two-story house that was a distance down the road.

"It's been abandoned," said the man. "We're gearing to take it for ourselves."

At this, Amy waved to him, and he waved back, before Amy followed Rachel back to the SUV.

Shortly, they were back on the road.

"I think we got them," said Shadow.

"We were all already in the car, anyway," said Sonic. "May as well move on."

"I hope those two are okay…" Amy sighed.

She was looking out the back window. She wouldn't take her eyes off the road they were leaving behind.

Sonic didn't like this. He had no idea why it concerned him, but something felt off about it. He had to do something to comfort her.

"A man wakes up in a hospital after a serious accident…" he began.

Rachel already let out a laugh. She'd heard this one before. Either way, it put a smile on her face. Never heard Sonic tell it before. Maybe he'll make it even funnier somehow.

Amy was looking at him now. Good!

"He cried 'Doctor, doctor! I can't feel my legs!" he went on. "The doctor tells him 'I know! I amputated your arms!'"

Somehow, this sent Rachel into a hearty fit of laughter. For Shadow and Amy, it may have taken a second… but Amy was soon chortling too. Shadow got it, but didn't let out much more than a smirk.

And Sonic smiled. To heck with Shadow. This was all he needed to see.

* * *

 **Author's note: They say** _ **Candide**_ **is a satire. May have been back in 1759… but it's not funny anymore. Unless you like that sort of writing, don't waste your time.** _ **The Odyssey's**_ **boring, too.** _ **Waiting for Godot,**_ **though, I recommend. Makes you think.**


	7. Indianapolis

After what felt to be another month or so of silence, the car sputtered past the sign which so boldly welcomed them to a city. This city was once the venue for a cousin's wedding, but… what married couple wouldn't reel back in despair after seeing the ground as all that really remained? The small church they'd exchanged their vows in… the museum in which they'd had their reception… nothing more than modern art of bricks and chaos.

The group got out of the car, set up a plan, and (with some hesitance) separated into individuals and scavenged the area for supplies. For the time being, it was nothing more, nothing less, and nothing unique. More than likely, every one of the other survivors searching here could say the exact same thing, word for word.

About two hours later (the arranged time to meet up again), everyone gave sigh after sigh of relief as ally after ally returned to the car.

Really… that was a blank. The only real thing anyone remembered from that landmark was the banter that was tossed around as things were loaded into the car.

"You know, I personally don't agree with the government's plan to just blow everything up," Sonic had sighed to kick things off. "Who do you think is sending the orders to destroy everything? Some fat cat who's safe in a bunker?"

"More than likely," Rachel shrugged, picking a stray box of ammo up off the ground.

"It's real scary, isn't it?" Amy commented, filling the SUV's gas tank. "At least everyone gets the warning to evacuate beforehand."

A brief moment of silence. Shadow? Got anything?

"It's necessary," Shadow said, in a voice just laced with defeat. "How else are we going to wipe those damn things off the face of the planet?"

"I get that," said Rachel. "It's just… you might as well be killing off the entire planet and not just the zombies that way."

"There is so much that people are losing that way," said Sonic. "Memories, possessions… hope… lives… companions…"

"It's a necessary cost," Shadow argued in the exact same tone. "We're shooting for survival, Sonic, not happiness. That dream is dead."

That line really struck a dissonant chord with everyone. Made them want to cry and break Shadow's skull.

But nobody really thought of a counter-argument until long after they were back on the road and the topic had passed. It was Rachel that had thought of it.

"Perhaps that's true now, but there could come a time where we can be happy again," she knew she should have said.

Such is a zombie apocalypse. Nobody ever really thought about it until it was too late to turn back.


	8. Indianapolis to the farmland

They were just on the road this time. Not gravitating toward anywhere.

Well, they were… but the gravity barely existed. Safe Haven was so far off that nobody felt like they were really doing anything but riding blindly around a minefield. And even if they did make it someday… what sort of damage and fumes would they be rolling in on? What… WHO… would be left?

Did it really matter anymore? In a world before, nobody had ever dreamt of letting anyone else die. Now… it was a given that they had to be prepared to see.

Nothing remarkable happened this stretch.

At least… not until Rachel lost control of the car as it skidded on a stray intestine.

Yeah, the car was suddenly dancing. It faced the ditch on the side of the road in split seconds.

Everyone reacted accordingly. With absolute death-grips on both their lives and the seats.

At the last second, Rachel felt the tires get their grip back on the rough asphalt, and she was quickly able to yank the steering wheel and get the car back on the road.

…What this resulted in, though… the sudden swing from facing the ditch back to facing the road… was a pronounced groan from Shadow.

He grunted out of anger all the time. If someone really pissed him off, he'd do a great zombie impersonation (some unfortunate traders had witnessed this phenomenon in person).

But this was different. It was loud.

Something had hurt him, definitely.

"Shadow, are you okay?!" Amy freaked out.

"…I-I…" Shadow responded. "I think my leg is broken."

While Sonic and Amy reacted with a sufficient, "WHAT?!", Rachel squeaked "Should I pull over?!"

"Yeah, pull over!" Amy responded.

"N-No! Don't hold us up because of me!" Shadow insisted, just as Rachel was about to hit the brake.

"What even happened?!" Rachel asked, putting her foot back on the gas.

"At the last second, a battery fell on his leg," Amy replied.

Indeed. With all the sudden movement, a battery that balanced atop some other stuff in the back had slid off the pile, right over Shadow's shoulder, and right onto his left leg.

"Are you sure, Shadow?" Amy asked again.

"I'm fine!" Shadow snapped. "…It hurts less than you'd think. My being the Ultimate Lifeform has given me a… dimmed sense of pain in comparison to you all."

Sonic gave one singular snicker, Rachel nodded, and Amy said "Oh, yeah. I get it."

A short while later, a small white farmhouse, which sat in a quaintly-decorated yard in front of various huge farm fields, was coming up on the right side of the road. Rachel thought nothing of it. In fact, she probably wouldn't have known it existed had Sonic not spoken up.

"Yo, let's stop here," he proposed. "There could be some sweet stuff in there. Plus… if there's anything left on those farms, food would be no problem!"

Woah… there was stuff growing there! Heads of lettuce, some sort of… bean or something… but the point was that there were plants here! Nobody was really expecting it, and they all, even Shadow, felt a "too good to be true" sense from it.


	9. The farmland

"Shadow, do you want to stay in the car?" asked Rachel, putting her hand on her door handle.

"No, I…" Shadow insisted. "…I-I'll be…"

He moved one inch and let out an even more pronounced groan than before.

"No, you are not moving from here, mister," Amy snapped. "Sonic, Rachel, you go find stuff. I'll keep Mr. Stubborn here."

By this point, the aforementioned fox and hedgehog had already stepped out of the car, and then closed their doors. As they walked toward the farm, they heard Shadow's muffled protests, and then the click of all the doors locking.

Rachel gave a snicker of amusement… but Sonic felt just a bit sick. And it wasn't the deathly smell pouring from the house, either.

He looked back. Amy had just sat down from locking the doors. It was just the two of them… sitting, right?

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice spoke to them in a raspy shout. Rachel and Sonic looked toward the side porch of the house, where there was an elderly man giving them a death stare with his one green eye. He looked more like a cat than anything else.

"'Ey!" he shouted. "Don't ye dare touch my food!"

Rachel was prepared to respect the man's wishes… but Sonic wasn't having any of it.

"You've got SO much food back there!" he snapped. "Can't you share just a bit with us?"

Rachel, meanwhile, was whispering "Sonic, you idiot…" in preparation to lose life right here.

The man thought for a bit before shouting "NO!" again. "And if y'all don't get out of my property, I'll put a bullet up yer arses!"

Yup. Death.

"Isn't there something we can do for you?" asked Sonic. "Bodies to bury, supplies to trade…"

The world stopped.

"…Well…" the man replied, putting his finger on his chin and thinking to himself. "…My grandson passed away a while back. Could ye bury him?"

"Yeah!" Sonic nodded. "…Yeah, of course!"

"Great," the man smiled. "His flesh is starting to make my chair get all moldy."

Oh, of all things to aggravate Rachel's nausea… it was going to be a dead body… but Sonic was no longer quite the idiot, and they could continue life. Wow…

"There's a shovel out back, I think," the man instructed. "Don't bury him too deep. Actually… can ya bury him by the lettuce?"

"Will do," Rachel obliged, dashing for the shovel. "Sonic, I'll dig. You get the body."

"Why me?!" asked Sonic.

"I WILL get sick if I have to touch that thing," Rachel cried, in a desperate scrape to keep the digging job.

Sonic was tempted to shout at her again, but then remembered something rather important and walked away to go find the body.

By the time that Sonic walked out with the green, decrepit corpse of the man's grandson, Rachel had been working hard to dig a hole that was roughly three feet deep.

Sonic locked onto the sight of this hole, dashed over to it, and threw the body in. He then proceeded to keel over and gag a couple of times. Rachel had to look away to keep her guts in her body as well.

After a bit more time, Rachel had covered the body with dirt again, and Sonic had two armfuls of various fruits and vegetables.

Gladly, Rachel placed the shovel back where she'd found it and sprinted to follow Sonic back to the SUV. She got back into the driver's seat while Sonic loaded up the back with this new-found food.

While Sonic was doing this work, he glanced over the pile at what he could see of Shadow and Amy.

They were alone in the car, so what? Why did this even freakin' bother him so much?!

"How do you feel?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, fantastic," Shadow snapped.

Yeah… this had only just happened, hadn't it?

Wait… is that a bunch of gauze, tape, and sticks on his leg? A medkit was wide open and empty between him and Amy. An emergency cast. Good.

This team really was a capable bunch, wasn't it?

…Team… One of them had up and left… and could potentially have bitten the dust. This felt so empty now.


	10. The farmland to Chicago

They were barely on the road before they were off it again. The nerve of some people! Isn't our common goal survival here or what?!

Similar thoughts of a much more violent caliber were running through everyone's heads when a state officer decided to pull the car over and question them for what seemed like a full hour.

At first were the questions of what sort of supplies they had stockpiled in the car. Everyone recoiled just a bit and wondered if this wasn't a bandit in disguise. Trying to steal our stuff, huh?

At second were the questions of how everyone was doing. Rachel, Sonic, and Amy found themselves calming down, but Shadow gave the guy an even eviler eye. Trying to figure out how weak we are, huh?

At third… casual chat. At this point, the officer had evil eyes of blue, green, _and_ crimson shooting his way.

At the end of what felt to be the longest hour ever, the conversation finally concluded, and the officer drove off. As soon as the car was out of sight, _everyone_ groaned in relief simultaneously. There was a real… sync here.

Soon, they were on the road for another hour.

It's really sort of hard to give one definitive description of the scenery.

In Rachel's eyes, the world had fallen to utter hell. It almost seemed as if there was an invisible and heatless fire engulfing the entire world, for everything just seemed to be withering away and falling apart. Fitting.

In Sonic's eyes… which he was struggling to keep relatively dry… this was no longer a universe to run free along. It would just feel _wrong_ anymore. It struck him like an arrow, how much he missed the vibrant grass, and the Chaos waving to him, and his friends running alongside him (or way behind and screaming at him, which was more often the case). The dirt, and the… nothingness… It was foul wind. Wind he did not want flying through his quills.

In Amy's eyes… the world was falling apart around her and Sonic. She even asked the question herself, of how she wasn't more torn apart by this… but every time she looked at her beautiful blue furball, it all made sense. And I said _more_ torn apart. Meaning close to as ripped to shreds as one can get.

In Shadow's eyes… and he knew it… he probably wouldn't have given a faker's arse because it was merely destiny taking place, had he not had a best friend in the past. A soulmate, of sorts. He still held a part of her within him, and that included the devastation of seeing the beautiful world of her greatest wishes falling apart at something that nobody… nearly nobody… could seem to fight.

They all had one thing in common. They wished they were not there. Not in this world. They'd been thrown into this mess, and they knew it.

As well… they were soon standing in it, as they stopped for a bathroom break. Sonic and Shadow had ventured into the nearby forest (Shadow was a bit irritated in having to use his Chaos Control due to his broken leg), and Rachel and Amy waited by the car for them.

Rachel was the one to notice the dirt moving around a quarter of a mile away. Wait… moving? Was that really not just her hungry mind beating her up? She figured she'd keep her eye on it, not having much else to do while waiting for nature to call.

She had her eyes right on it, but was still thrown completely off guard somehow. Something green and rotten poked through the surface.

This is when Amy grasped the situation and took in a fearful breath. That couldn't have been a zombie! That was a zombie! It was rising from the ground!

And it didn't take very long, either. It only took a few seconds for its decrepit, puppet-like form to fully emerge from such pure-looking soil. Someone was lost and buried here. And now, they were back.

And it had its eyes locked on the two ladies the entire time.

Fortunately, Rachel was quick on the draw and had opened the car door nearest to where the guns were stored. Really, Amy's subsequent scream shocked her more than anything.

…Please let this gun have ammo in it. Otherwise, they were going to have to run.

And luck smiled down on them. The zombie had already trudged a few steps closer (too many for comfort, really), but Rachel aimed the gun and pulled the trigger once before the zombie found itself giving a gurgled cry and stumbling backward, into the hole it had emerged from.

And in three nanoseconds flat, Sonic and Shadow were there with wide eyes and racing hearts. Sonic had dashed here nearly faster than his feet could take, and Shadow had "Chaos Control" out of his mouth at the first sound wave of Amy's scream. Rachel nearly wanted to shout at them for showing up like that. They could have blindly showed up right in the crossfire!

"Are you guys okay?!" Sonic fretted.

"What happened here?!" asked Shadow, trying to shift most of his balance on his good leg.

"THAT happened!" Amy replied, pointing at the hole where the dead zombie was. It hadn't completely fallen in, for its leg had gotten caught on the edge.

"Did that come out of the ground?" asked Sonic. "…Wait, how is that POSSIBLE?!"

"This is a big subject with a lot of survivors," said Shadow, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "A lot of people have seen this happen."

They made it a quick endeavor to hop in the car and get the hell out of there before something else hit the fan.

About an hour or so later, Shadow pointed out the upcoming city and that it would be a good idea for them to camp there.

"Hey, look at that!" said Sonic, pointing out his window.

Well, what do you know? A fully lit and fully functional vending machine.

"Who's got the cash?" he then asked. "I think we can afford everything in it!"

To which Shadow responded "We break the glass and loot it all, you idiot."

* * *

 **Author's note: I may make it so that only one thing happens per chapter. Putting several things together feels strange, and I'm afraid that I would start becoming a talking list.**


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